WHEN a Worcestershire couple allowed their cat to sleep on what they thought was just a dilapidated chair, they had no idea it would go on to fetch a massive £37,000 at auction.

The George II chair went under the hammer this week - and its sellers, who wish to remain anonymous, were amazed when it managed to earn tens of thousands of pounds.

Auctioneer Philip Serrell explained: "The people who own it decided to sell it and asked us to have a look at it.

"We did some research and discovered it was a very special chair which dates back to 1740. It would have been an important chair and I should imagine it would have been in an important house at one time."

He said the auction house, in Barnards Green Road, in Barnard's Green, Malvern, was inundated with buyers interested in purchasing the chair.

"We had lots of interest from all over the world, including someone from Texas," Mr Serrell added.

"On the day it went to auction it was very exciting, with people making telephone bids from all over the place."

He said he had estimated the chair would sell for between £20,000 and £30,000, but was not surprised it sold for even more than the estimate.

He added: "The people who owned it had no idea of its worth and used to let the cat sleep on it. It was certainly a very privileged cat!"